A Change of Scenery
by WeeaBoo
Summary: Sara has become unhappy with her job, and some friends make her a very tempting offer.
1. Chapter 1

Well here we go again. I am attempting a multi-chapter dealy, so we'll see where that takes us.

Also a HUGE thanks goes out to drgnqn for beta-ing this. It wasn't pretty, but thanks to her, your head shouldn't explode while reading.

Enjoy!

Sara felt it building up for some time now - she just wasn't happy with her life anymore. Forensics had been a small joy of hers for many, many, years but now she was starting to dread coming into work each night. When did it get to this point, she wondered? It didn't really matter anyway, forensics is where she was and forensics is where she would stay. At least that's what she thought.

It had started out like any normal night. After waking up from a few hours of restless sleep Sara dragged herself to the shower and cleaned up. After getting out and getting ready she made herself some breakfast and went to her computer to check her emails. She hardly had anybody on her contacts list, just a few old colleagues, some of her better friends from college, and Grissom of course. So checking it was something she did more out of habit than necessity. Except that, that morning there was something interesting sitting in her mail box.

"Hello?" She said to herself

It was an email from two very good friends of hers. All three of them were physics majors while they were still in college. Practically inseparable, the three were quickly labeled the "Three Musketeers" by their peers and instructors alike. Where one went, the other two followed. Although at some point during their college careers Sara's two best friends had fallen in love and eventually married. Nothing really changed except that now two of the 'Musketeers' were sleeping together.

Sara smiled thinking back on the old memories.

After graduation the trio went their separate ways. Sara to San Francisco and eventually Las Vegas and her friends to New York, and eventually London, where they were now emailing her from.

At first, the letter was completely normal, going through all the motions that one goes through with friends, basic small talk really. It was toward the middle when it started getting really juicy:

_Hey Sara, sorry for such a late response, its been crazy over here! One of our instructors was taken out of class recently and arrested! Can you believe that? Apparently it has to do with some weird underground tiger-fighting thing that he's involved in. Don't ask me._

_I'm so glad to hear that the recipe ended up working out for you. Ha-ha, maybe I'm just an awful cook then because I could not get that thing to rise for the death of me. Also I'm sorry to hear that you're having such an awful time at work, you always were restless, I'm surprised you stuck it out this long. Have you ever considered taking a vacation? Or maybe trying something new..._

_Our university is looking for a speaker to teach a month long physics related seminar in the very near future. Apparently, they're having a hard time getting a hold of people so one of the people in charge of arranging everything asked if Jeff or I knew anybody. Of course we dropped your name and showed them a few of the articles you wrote – and they were very impressed._

_So in a way this is sort of a business related email. Does this sound like something you're interested in? The school would take care of all your travel expenses and living arrangements while you were here of course, all you would really need to do is sign a few papers and bring that big brain of yours._

_If you did accept it, it would also give us a chance to finally meet up again ;) It's been too long._

_Write me back if you're interested._

_Judy_

_P.S. Jeff says, "Hi"_

She sat there a moment frozen in place, not sure if what she read was true or not. After reading the email a couple more times she started to grasp the concept. A physics seminar in London that she would be heading. The whole idea sounded ludicrous in her mind. Utterly laughable. Sara Sidle was many things, but international jet setter and teacher extraordinaire she was not.

She quickly hit the reply button and typed her response:

_You have to be kidding me._

That's all it said, and with that she pushed 'send'.

Noting the time, she quickly got up and changed into her work attire, but the drive to work, which was usually peaceful and her time to guiltlessly sing show tunes, was disrupted. Were her friends really serious? What could she possibly have to offer the physics community, especially after being in forensics for so long? Not that she had let her knowledge of the subject wither away; it was actually quite the contrary. Since she became a forensic scientist her knowledge of physics had grown immensely. Sara made a point to attend every seminar and extracurricular activity she could on the subject. Not willing to let that small part of her old self die.

Still...there had to be somebody better than she. Right?

Tonight was one of those rare nights when Sara was praying for there to be a crime spree. She needed something to occupy her mind, but as luck would have it, the 'City that Never Sleeps' was taking a nap.

Everybody was sitting around the table waiting for Grissom to stride in and hand them their cases, but it seemed his stride was absent today and filling in for it would be a slow shuffle.

"Alright guys," he began, "Looks like it's going to be a slow one tonight. Warrick, Nick you two have a B&E on McKinley. Catherine you can finish up the case you're still on and feel free to grab Greg if you need to. Sara, there's nothing really for you to do, so if you want you can go fishing on the board for a cold case you can or you can catch up on paperwork." He paused a moment to let everyone absorb everything, "I'll be in my office if anyone needs me."

"Lame." Was all Greg could muster up as Grissom walked away, "I left the lab to get in on the action, not spend _more_ time in the lab."

"Oh hush yourself," Catherine added, "Besides you won't be totally bored, I'm going to be making some ballistics gel, wanna help me cook?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Nick and Warrick laughed as they left on their assignment and Catherine smiled out the side of her mouth.

Greg looked crestfallen, "I'll take that as a 'no' then."

As Sara watched Catherine tug a pouty Greg towards another part of the lab, she couldn't help but feel a little envious. Lucky little bastard, she wouldn't mind working with Catherine tonight if it kept her mind off that email, and knowing Catherine, Sara would be way too pissed off to be thinking about anything other than wanting to shank the woman. Oh well, she did have a stack of paperwork that was being neglected.

She settled herself under the warm glow of a lone desk lamp with a stack of work twelve inches thick. It was going to be a long night. And she would have gotten a lot more work done if she hadn't taken breaks every half an hour to check her e-mail for a reply message from her friend.

She let out a frustrated sigh, "This is driving me crazy!"

Greg walked in at that very moment, "What is?"

Sara jumped a bit, "Geez Greg, you're gonna give me a heart attack."

"Sorry."

Sara closed the internet browser and went back to her paperwork.

Greg approached her cautiously, "So will you tell me what seems to be vexing you my lady?"

"It's nothing Greg."

"Really? Does nothing have you obsessively looking at your e-mail every 25 minutes give or take?"

Sara put down whatever case file she was looking at, "Have you been spying on me?"

"No I'm just observant, that's why I make the big bucks you know."

She rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Like I said, it's nothing, – now."

Greg pulled up a seat next to her, "Oooh sounds mysterious, you've piqued my interest."

"They have cream for that."

He mocked pain, "Ouch, straight through the heart. Your wit is killing me over here, but I warn you ahead of time – I have pretty smart friends and you won't get away with this."

Sara graced him with a chuckle, "Greg is there a reason why you're bothering me? You must know by now that you won't get any information."

"I know, I know, but I just wanted to remind you that if you needed to talk your options are open."

Greg got up and left, leaving Sara there smiling inwardly to herself. Poor Greg never got the credit he was due. Ever since she'd mentored him they had grown closer as friends and, behind a certain graying entomologist, he was probably her favorite person at the lab. Maybe under different circumstances, they could have had something...or not, she supposed Greg was more like a brother to her anyway.

Sara went home dead tired that morning, all she had done all night was wade through red tape and seemingly endless piles of paperwork. How did Grissom do it? she wondered. She didn't dwell on the thought too long - she tried not to think about him at all these days. Truth was it pained her to think about him; she knew she could never have him and she would never have him, but for some reason she just couldn't extinguish the flame she held for him. God that sounded cheesy.

"You want to know what's vexing me Greg? Where should I start?" She began peeling off her layers of clothing until she was in a small plain white under shirt and her underwear. The trail of clothes lead like breadcrumbs from her front door to her computer upstairs. As she typed in the URL and entered her username and password, she told herself that this was going to be the last time tonight she checked it, and that, after this, it was straight to bed.

After the page loaded, it was there, staring right at her, standing out like some sort of blemish on a movie screen. Wasting no time, she opened it:

_No Sara we're dead serious. Here, I attached a copy (or close to it) of the contract you would have to sign - feel free to look it over and jot down any questions. Aside from my own selfish reasons for wanting you to come over here this, is actually a really good opportunity._

_Knowing you you're probably swimming in doubt, but would you please think this over. Jeff and I wouldn't have recommended you if we didn't think you could handle this._

_Talk to you later,_

_Judy_

Well shit. Think it over, right, she was supposed to go to bed after this. Something told Sara it was going to be another restless night for her.


	2. Chapter 2

I know, I know, I just posted yesterday. Sue me...or not.

Anyway another huge thanks to drgnqn for beta-ing this. She had a super busy weekend planned, but still found time for this little story. Bless her heart.

Okay, so we're two chapters in, and still no GSR; please be patient, these things take time. You wont be disappointed...hopefully. Actually, I've decided to take this story in a whole different direction. Grillows anyone?

Just kidding!!

One more thing, I promise! I just want to thank all the people who reviewed "Pumpkin Eater", it was a warm surprise to open my mailbox and see so many positive responses. So thanks!

It had been two days since she had gotten the last e-mail from her friend, and Sara still hadn't gone over the pseudo contract. It seemed that the crime spree she was so desperate for not one week ago, had finally decided to rear its ugly little head. Sara was now elbow deep in dead bodies and evidence, and didn't have one moment to spare, let alone the hours it would take for her to pour over such an important document. All she could do now was play the waiting game and hope her window of opportunity wasn't slowly closing on her.

"Sara, hey! Are you with us?" Someone was snapping their fingers in her face.

"Wha – Oh uh, yeah, did you need something Greg?"

He gave her a cocked-eyed look, "No, I was just making sure you were still in this universe. You looked a million miles away."

Damnit! She'd done it again.

She turned away from him, "No I'm fine."

As Greg strolled away Sara cursed herself. This was the third time now her mind had wandered away while she was processing a scene. She looked down at the fingerprint brush in her hand; she was an accident waiting to happen. All it took was one slip up on her part and whatever evidence she was handling would become invalid.

She needed a break. It was times like this that she cursed herself for having the common sense to quit smoking.

She looked at her watch, in a few hours her shift would be over and she would have two days off to look over the file her friend had sent her. Just two hours...

Six hours later, she was finally home.

Better late then never she supposed. Sara ran upstairs and began printing off the contract, hopping in the shower in the meantime. She was nervous with anticipation as she read. Everything seemed straight forward and all around great. She would arrive at the school a month before the scheduled seminar, where, upon arrival, she was to present to the various board members her planned curriculum and make any last minute tweaks that might be needed. The seminar was to last about a month, and while Sara was visiting, all her business expenses would be picked up by the school. And as far as pay was concerned, the sum written down was very generous.

She would be an idiot not to take this deal.

She logged into her e-mail and sent her friend a message:

_I just got done reading the contract. Everything looks superb. What do you want me to do next?_

Sara was excited- she hadn't felt this giddy since that one Halloween when Greg decided that it would be a good idea to dress up like Grissom. He was stuck doing lab duty and decomp for the next two weeks, but he said it was worth it, seeing Grissom's- face when he came in and saw Greg with a full beard and a straw hat. Everybody had a good laugh that night.

For the first time in months, sleep came easy to Sara.

When she woke up, she was surprised to see that it was 11:00 pm. Sara hadn't gotten a solid nine hours of non-prescription drug induced sleep in years. She stretched and groaned, and allowed herself to get out of bed at a snail's pace. Sara was in no hurry today; everything was perfect for once.

She made her way downstairs to see what was in her fridge. Nothing apparently, tonight she would have to order some take-out. Sara was going to head back upstairs to get her wallet when she noticed the blinking red light on her answering machine. Oops. While she was reading the contract she shut off the ringer on her landline, she must have forgotten to turn it back on before she went to sleep. She pressed the play button and the message began:

_Hey Sara, it's Judy. I just got your e-mail, but I need to talk to you about something else now. Ummm...it's sort of important so I'd rather you call me. You may want to get a pen, my phone number is, 011 44 (20) 7653-3246. I don't care what time it is, just call me as soon as you get this message._

"What the..."

Sara replayed the message and jotted down the long list of digits. It was 11:45 in Vegas, minus the eight hour time difference, at least she wouldn't be waking her friend up. Sara didn't even want to think about how much a call to Central London was going to cost her.

She slowly punched in the numbers, she must have jinxed herself today by taking 40 minutes to get out of bed.

She heard ringing on the other end and then the receiver picked up.

"Hello?"

"Judy?"

"Sara! You're returning my call, how wonderful!"

"Well you did say it was important. What happened?" She sounded glum.

"Nothing bad, don't sound so down. Actually, it's something quite good."

Sara felt a little better knowing that at least she wasn't being delivered bad news. "Okay."

"Well remember the tiger incident I briefly mentioned?"

"Yeah..."

"It seems that the charges against the professor may actually stick, in which case our science department would have an opening..."

Sara quickly caught on to where this conversation was going.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Sara was trying to get her mind to wrap around the idea.

"I'm not saying anything, if you catch my drift, but I just want you to be aware that while you are over here doing your lecture, you may be under review and you might want to bring an up-to-date résumé."

"Judy I don't know about this."

"What are you talking about Sara? You just got done sending me an e-mail saying you were."

"Yeah, that I was ready to do a month-long seminar, not uproot myself and move there." She threw herself dramatically on her couch, "I have a life and a job here you know?"

"Sara, we all know that your job is your life and according to you, you're having some difficulties with forensics right now."

"That doesn't mean I want to leave the country."

There was a pause in the conversation and Sara started playing with the material of her couch, using her finger to slowly trace the seams of the cushion.

"This doesn't have anything to do with that Grissom guy does it?"

Way to cut to the point.

"No! I can't believe you would in-." She was cut off.

"Sara, this is a really good chance. You've been hung up on this guy for too long and you can't let him dictate the rest of your life for you." Sara could hear her friend sigh on the other line, "Sorry to sound like a mom, but you just have to let go."

"Just so you know, you are the only person who I would let talk to me like that, BUT, believe it or not, you are only half right."

"That means I'm only half wrong too."

"I am going to hang up on you."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop, but we probably _should_ hang up soon. This phone call is going to cost a $100."

"You're paying me back just so you know." Sara said matter-of-factly.

"No way, I saw how much UCL is going to pay you for guest speaking. You got this bill on your own."

"Ha-ha whatever, I'm hanging up now, and I'll be in touch."

"Sara! Wait!"

"What now?"

"Will you please think about it some more?"

"Like I said, I'll be in touch."

Sara hung the phone and wasn't quite so hungry anymore. Did her friend even realize what she was asking? It was hard enough to pick up and start over when she was young and in college-but now so much more was on the line. She had an established career with the number two crime lab in the country, an apartment, a vehicle, a small web of friends that she'd grown quite fond of over the years, and yes, there was also Grissom. If she moved to London that was it, game over, chances were, she would never see, them, him ever again. That thought alone was enough to make her abandon the idea altogether.

What Judy had said did make sense, though. How long was she supposed to wait around for him? It had already been several years and Lord knew he wasn't getting any younger.

She snickered a little at her last thought, as if age mattered to her. Oh well.

With this new thought constantly running through her mind, the two days off she had passed quickly and she found herself once again in the lab waiting for another shift to begin. What was worse was the fact that she was still nowhere near close to deciding what to do.

She needed outside help.

In her mind she ran over the list of usual suspects. She could ask Nick, but chances were he wouldn't give her a straight answer. After years of living with so many sisters, he had learned to just let the girl do what she wanted. He'd probably feed her some line about following her heart or something. She needed feedback more concrete than that. Warrick might be able to help, but she didn't feel as comfortable around him as she did with Nick, but would keep him open as an option. Catherine? Not if she wanted it to be kept a secret. There was always Grissom. How 'bout a Hell no, she'd rather share with Catherine then come to him with this.

That left one person.

"Hey Greg?" She caught him sitting alone in the break room and figured it was the perfect time to ask him, without the chance of other ears eaves-dropping. She didn't want to hear about a secret tryst between her and Greg running through the rumor mill right now.

He looked up, half surprised to see her, "Yeah?"

"Umm, what are you doing after shift?" She spoke in a casual manor, trying to make this as uncomfortable as possible for both parties, but something about Greg's face told Sara he wasn't uncomfortable in the least.

He was grinning ear to ear, "Why Sara, are you asking me out on a date?"

She rolled her eyes, "No Greg, I actually was hoping you could help me with something."

"Ah, that's your angle, well, you know I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress. What did you need?"

"I don't want to talk about it here, do you wanna meet at that Chinese place off the strip at about 8:00 am.?"

"Ooh a secret," he waggled his eyebrows at her, "I'm all yours."

"Goody."

She walked briskly down the hall, away from the break room, but Greg hopped out of the threshold, "Until eight my sweet!"

She sighed to herself, so much for the rumor mill.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, it's that time again. It feels like forever since I last updated! I hope everyone's holiday wasn't too stressful or was at least enjoyable.

I slipped a small Simpsons reference into this chapter, if someone can pick it out I'll write you a story or something. Also I took a small phrase from a Bright Eyes song as well.

Once again, thanks goes out to the ever fabulous drgnqn for playing role of beta.

Also, as a side note, I'm working on a special little something, so keep your eyes peeled if you're interested.

* * *

Sara arrived at the restaurant a few minutes after eight. Pulling into the parking lot, she couldn't help but realize how deserted the place was, the only exception being one other black Denali, which was already parked near the front entrance. She eased up along side of it, and as she exited her vehicle, Sara rolled her eyes at herself, "Who eats Chinese food at eight in the morning?" She could have chosen IHOP or something a little more appropriate for breakfast – err dinner. Whatever, it really didn't matter, truth be told, she wasn't even hungry.

The Las Vegas sun was already bright and shining, and it conflicted with the dark cool atmosphere of the restaurant. Sara had to give her eyes a moment to adjust after she stepped inside. For a second she was reminded of the winters she lived through while going to school in Massachusetts. The first snow was always so intensely bright, and after spending mere minutes in it, you could walk into a room and think you were going blind. She spent most of her time in Boston though, so the fresh new snow never lasted long before it was tainted by automobiles, or people in general, but on more than one occasion, her friends and her would go off on a weekend getaway to someplace more quiet and remote, a drastic change from the historic city. Jeff's dad was somewhat well-to-do, so more often then not the students would end up crashing at his father's cabin more upstate, and just spend the whole time goofing off.

Shades of green...that's how everything would look when they would come back inside from an immature snowball fight or quick beer run.

Everything would be in shades of green...

"Yo! Sara! Over here."

She was jolted back into reality at the sound of Greg calling her name. She smiled and gave him a quick wave as she approached the table.

"Hey Greg, sorry I'm late."

"Ah don't worry about it. I haven't even ordered yet, though I do have my eye on the sesame chicken. That is, if you don't mind of course." He gave a meek smile, hoping she wouldn't be offended by his carnivorous ways.

"Knock yourself out."

"Sweet!" He said, pumping his arm in a downward motion, "You see anything?"

Sara hadn't even picked up her menu yet, she just gave it a very unimpressed look as she pushed it away, "Nah, I'm not really hungry."

"I see...So you invited me to a restaurant after shift and didn't even plan on eating." Greg started, "Does that mean we should just skip the formalities and get straight to the point? Unless, of course, you're just taking a subtle approach to calling me fat."

Sara grinned a bit, as their waitress approached their table. Greg ordered his chicken and Sara ordered some tea.

"So what's wrong Sara?"

"Nothing is really wrong; I just needed an honest, outside opinion."

"I'm flattered."

"Yeah, well, it's not like I had a lot of options to choose from."

"Ouch, that's two times tonight I've been mortally wounded by you. We've got another serial on the loose."

The woman quickly came back with Sara's tea, and she suddenly found her little tea cup extremely fascinating. It's best to treat this situation like a band-aid, quick and painless, she decided

"I've been offered a job Greg." There, it was out there.

"Okay..."

"Some friends of mine work at a university and want me to teach a seminar there." Looking at the tea cup, always looking at the tea cup, "I'd probably be out of the lab for about three months, at the least."

"Why would you have to take so much time off? The U of LV isn't that far away."

She looked up for the first time since they started this conversation, "Greg, I said _a_ university, not _the_ university."

"Where, then?"

"London."

Greg nearly choked on the water he was drinking, "London!" He said in a stifled scream, "London?!"

Sara smiled and finally poured herself some tea, finding Greg's reaction endearing. "Yeah."

"Wowza, that is something, but _still_, three months?"

"Well, I'd need a month at the least to prepare, the lecture will take a month, and the last month..."

It was at this moment Sara regretted bringing Greg into this whole situation. She wasn't thinking clearly and now she was about to dump a whole lot of her emotional baggage right into his lap. Looking at Greg's face before she continued speaking, she wondered if it was too late to pull back now, drop five bucks on the table for her tea, and just run out of there. Greg could run pretty fast, he'd probably catch her while she was trying to unlock her car door, though once he did catch her, Sara was confident she could hold her own against him.

"Sara. What would the last month be for?"

Jolted again.

"The last month would be a pillow." She said calmly, before taking a sip of tea.

"A pillow?"

"They may have a permanent teaching position opening Greg, if it's offered to me and I decide to take it, I'd need that extra month to get all my affairs in order."

Greg was shocked; he just sat across from Sara with his mouth agape. She was moving, she was moving to London no less. His mentor, the person who had helped him the most over the passed few months, and the person whom he'd become more attached to than he thought possible over the passed few years, was moving, oceans and continents away. He just could not believe it.

Wait.

"Wait, you said 'if', does that mean none of this is for sure?" He was reaching for straws.

"The seminar is pretty much a done deal, but everything else is still up in the air. That's actually what I wanted your opinion about."

Everything clicked in Greg's mind - that's what this whole meeting was about, she wants to know if she should get out of Vegas. She is asking, outside of Grissom, probably the most biased person on their team, if she should quit and move thousands of miles away to take a job in a place where it is certain that nobody will ever see her again for as long as any of them lives - and he's supposed to answer honestly, with her well being in mind?

Greg cursed himself for always being the good guy.

"So you wanna know what I think." He said defeated, it was a statement, not a question.

"I realize that my life isn't your responsibility, but I just need to bounce something off someone or I'm going to drive myself crazy and you're a rational person Greg. I trust you."

Damn her for saying that.

"What would you be teaching?"

"Physics."

"Are you unhappy with forensics?"

Greg never knew about anything that went on in her past or about the rough patch her life hit a few years back, where she was drinking every day until she blacked out, only to wake up the next night and do it all over again. She had to assume that he always thought she loved her job.

"It's beginning to wear on me Greg - it has been for a while."

Greg turned to the window at their booth, contemplating what he should say next. Should he encourage her? Discourage her?

"What do you think?" He turned away from the window and back to her, "You must have some thoughts on this situation."

"I need a change, and this is an opportunity for that."

He gave a weak smile, and when their waitress showed up with his food, he was grateful for the distraction. He picked up his fork and pushed it around a bit, mixing the rice with the chicken, all the while feeling totally helpless.

"I think you should teach the seminar, and if you like it and they offer you permanent placement, you should do that too."

"You aren't just saying that are you? If I wanted that kind of answer I would have gone to Nick."

Greg chuckled a little and gave a stronger smile this time, "Oh trust me, I'm not just saying that."

"Good. Watching you eat that makes me hungry though." Sara signaled back to the server and ordered some mock duck.

The rest of the meeting was spent in a relaxed manner. Though Greg warned Sara ahead of time, that now that he knew she was leaving, he was going to try and steal her away to hangout every chance he got. She just laughed at him and said that nothing was etched in stone yet.

As they were both climbing in their trucks, getting ready to leave, Sara hollered over to Greg.

"Hey, keep this under your hat, will ya?"

"Sure, but I don't wear one. Maybe Grissom will let me borrow his."

"Greggy my boy, I don't know if you'd be able to work it hard enough."

With that, they each headed their separate ways. Greg, home to sleep, and Sara, home to think about what she was going to say to Ecklie tonight when she put in her 'leave of absence' form.

* * *

"_What's this?" Ecklie wondered aloud, as Sara slid the important document on his desk in front of him. The document that represented the beginning of the change in her life._

"_It's what I needed to talk to you about, I'm requesting some time off."_

"_Three months? Why don't you just quit? It'll sure as hell make the scheduling a lot easier."_

"_That's why I wanted to speak to you." She could feel herself becoming tense, "I realize that three months is a long time; however, if you consider the fact that since working for this lab, I have never taken a vacation and rarely ever called in sick to work, I'm sure you'll see that my request is quite reasonable."_

_Ecklie glowered at her a bit, before reluctantly signing off in approval and handing her, her copies. Apparently, not even he could argue with that kind of logic._

_As she turned to exit his office, she sighed to herself, the easy part was over, now she gets to tell Grissom._

* * *

That thought played through Sara's head all shift; while she examined photos, took finger prints, got statements from witnesses, went over tox results, and spoke with Doc Robbins about autopsy findings and stomach contents; but, everything she did, she was haunted by the small fact that tonight she would tell Grissom she might be moving away for good.

That she didn't know what to expect was what was driving her crazy. Would he say something, anything? Or just shrug it off with a pleasant 'nice knowing you'? What would hurt more, inaction or complete disregard?

She took a swig of her raspberry iced tea and wished it was something all together stronger. It would be way easier to confront Grissom if she was a little buzzed. Then again, no it wouldn't, been there done that.

Catherine walked into the break room as Sara was putting her drink back into the fridge.

"Hey, where's your sidekick?"

Sara was confused, "I don't own one."

"No, no, no, I mean Greg, he's been shadowing you all night." Catherine said, taking a seat on the edge of the table, her body language told Sara that this was definitely not a professional conversation, "Even the guys picked up on it."

"Oh, I guess I didn't notice." She lied.

Catherine was practically glowing, "Really? I heard you guys had a little get-together this morning." She smiled, "That wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it?"

"Jesus Christ," Sara muttered under her breath, "Who's your informant?"

"Hodges."

"Well sorry to burst your bubble Cath, but it was just a friendly get together." Sara picked up a manila folder and began to make her way toward the door, "Also, if you see him before I do, tell Hodges that I'm looking for him."

Catherine frowned at the knowledge that the juiciest new office rumor was false, but told Sara she would relay her message to the nosy lab worker.

Sara shook her head at herself as she exited the break room and headed toward Grissom's office. Sometimes this place really was like high school.

His door was open and she braced herself before she knocked on his molding.

He was reading something and looked up at her, over the glasses perched far down his nose, "Oh hello Sara."

"Hey, can I come in?"

Closing his book, "Certainly." Then he paused a spell, "Did you need something?"

"Uh yeah, I was wondering if I could talk to you?"

"Of course." He reached down and opened a drawer to his desk, placing the book inside of it. While he did, Sara allowed herself to look around his office. She'd been in it so many times before this, but now she was seeing it in a new light. He was everywhere in this room; little splashes of Grissom on the desk and on the walls, represented by all the things he enjoyed. At this rate, she was going to get misty eyed any second.

"Sara, what did you need to discuss?"

"I uh," tears were threatening and she had to quickly pull herself together, "Do you mind if I shut the door?"

He quirked an eyebrow at her, "Go right ahead. Is anything wrong?"

"No, just for some privacy." After she shut the door, she opened the folder in her hand. From inside it she drew out a copy of her leave of absence, "I just wanted to talk to you before Ecklie did first."

Grissom's brow furrowed, "I don't know if I'll like any discussion that starts like that. Are you okay Sara?"

What a question. Was she okay? She wasn't sure anymore. She thought she was, before she stepped into his office, but her resolve was suddenly crumbling right in front of her, and she blamed it entirely on him, "I uh..." She gave up on trying to form sentences and just let her fingers do the talking. She handed him the form that was barely signed ten hours ago.

He took it apprehensively, "What's this?"

"I'm taking a leave of absence."

"I see..." He quietly drawled, "Three months; why so long?"

He was staring at her now- he wanted answers. "I'm going to be teaching a seminar and will need the time to prepare." She only gave him the half-truth.

"Really? That's quite an opportunity...on forensics"

"No, physics. I have some friends who also teach at the school, they approached me about it."

"Returning to your roots I see. I'm sorry I wasn't aware that you were still so actively pursuing it."

"Well, I've had a few things published here and there."

Grissom was very surprised at this, how come he never knew she had published works? He made a mental note to himself, that once he got home he would seek them out. "Having anything published is an achievement. Will you be returning to Berkley or Harvard?"

Uh oh, moment of truth, "Actually I'll be teaching at UCL."

It took every ounce of self control for Grissom to keep his eyes from popping out of their sockets, he knew exactly where that college was, he spoke very evenly, "Congratulations, those must have been some articles you wrote, UCL is very prestigious and...far away."

"Grissom," She wasn't going to beat around the bush any longer, "What I really wanted to tell you is what I didn't tell Ecklie." She took a deep breath, "There may be a permanent position opening in the science department, and right now I seem to be their number one candidate to fill it. They haven't offered anything yet and I haven't agreed to anything. I just wanted to let you know out of a professional courtesy, that you may need to find my replacement."

Sara thought that once she said the words she would feel relieved, an over whelming sense of freedom, but right now she just felt empty.

Grissom was certain that if he were being filmed, you could probably freeze frame the actual moment his heart broke in half. He was utterly floored, he had to remind himself to breathe, if he hadn't had the surgery that remedied it, he would be sure that the ringing in his ears was caused by the otosclerosis, except it wasn't. Sara was finally leaving. Sure she said that nothing is guaranteed, but she would be an idiot to pass up a chance to teach at that school, and if there was one thing that Sara wasn't, it was an idiot.

No, he had that title all to himself, Champion of Idiots.

Later, after everything was quiet, when he was home laying in his bed all alone, he would replay the whole thing over and over again through his head, and try to figure out why he let her walk out his office door that day without even acknowledging the fact that she had said anything at all.

Idiot.


End file.
